An new experiement shows an iPhone app and a camera can be used in medical diagnosis. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Medical advances don’t have to be dramatic. Even small changes can save lives. Take an app that uses an iPhone camera to determine if an artery is healthy enough to accept the catheter needed to restore blood flow to a patent’s heart. It’s still experimental, but is significantly better than the current method.

Forthcoming iPad app will remind people to regularly screen for cancer. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Researchers have developed an iPad app that makes setting up lifesaving colon cancer screenings “as easy as booking a hotel room online.”

Colon cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Early screening can dramatically reduce mortality rates, yet more than one-third of Americans who fall within the most likely age bracket go unscreened every year.

Dr. Evans has spoken out about the future of medicine being apps. Photo: DocMikeEvans

Apple added another medical expert to its growing team by adding Dr. Mike Evans, a Toronto-based physician best known for his popular YouTube channel under the name “DocMikeEvans.”

According to a Canadian news report, Evans was recruited after his “peer-to-peer health care” YouTube videos — in which he voices a cartoon doctor, explaining common medical ailments — caught Apple’s attention.